about US
Officers
David Tusio
President
Role and Responsibility: The President shall oversee all other SGA officers, preside over all meetings of the SGA, communicate with the SGA body as a whole and serve as the official representative of the SGA and therefore the official representative of the undergraduate student body at the University of Delaware. The President shall act as the student liaison to the President of the University, the Mayor of Newark, the Town and Gown Committee, and all other members of the administration and faculty. This person shall organize SGA delegates to all Board of Trustee meetings.
Major: Political Science with a concentration in Public Policy and Public Administration
Minors: History; Journalism
David Tusio is a senior from Wilmington, Delaware and joined SGA his junior year as City Relations officer. David served as SGA’s representative to the City of Newark, engaging in several projects and initiatives involving the partnership of the University campus and the Newark community.
David is interested in pursuing a life in public service. His central focus surrounds media and government relations and the significant impact the two have on the public. Over the past two years, David has interned for the City Representative of Philadelphia and hopes to start a career in politics following graduation. Some of David’s other interests include DJ’ing, traveling, and Philadelphia professional sports teams.
Corrie Bonham
Vice President
Role and Responsibility: The Vice President shall serve as the Speaker of the Senate and preside over all SGA meetings in the absence of the President. This person shall facilitate and oversee research initiatives and actions taken by the University Affairs Chairpersons in response to proposals passed in StUDent Senate. This person shall organize SGA delegates to all Faculty Senate Committee meetings.
Major: International Relations with a concentration in Development
Minor: African Studies
Corrie Bonham is a junior from East Greenwich, Rhode Island. She was involved in student councils through high school, and joined SGA her freshman year as a Public Relations Chairperson. Then, she co-designed SGA’s ONE: UniteD To Help Make Poverty History with then-treasurer Tyrone Edwards. During her sophomore year, she served as the Director of Special Projects and thoroughly enjoyed using her administrative and organizational skills to plan SGA’s major events. In her spare time, she loves spending time with her three sisters, reading about faith and politics, and drinking unhealthy quantities of good coffee.
Jessica Ma
Secretary of Public Relations
Role and Responsibility: The Secretary of Public Relations and Faculty Senator shall be responsible for overseeing the advertising of events sponsored and/or supported by SGA as well as the general marketing of SGA to the student body. This person shall maintain contact with the various student and community media outlets including the student newspaper and radio station. This person shall either personally respond to or refer reporters from the University Office of Communication and Marketing (OCM) and community media to the appropriate officers. Additionally, this person shall represent SGA at every meeting of the Faculty Senate and use that forum to address student concerns with the faculty.
Major: Marketing major with a double minor in Chinese and MIS
Jessica Ma is a sophomore from Matawan, New Jersey. Her passion for spreading messages through visually appealing and effective means began when she started laying out her high school’s award-winning newspaper. Fostered by a constant yearn for creativity and originality with careful attention to detail, Jessica continues to search for innovative ways to raise awareness for specific events. She enjoys designing advertisements using Adobe programs such as Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop. In her spare time, she enjoys what most humans would like naturally: laughter with friends, eating, and sleeping. In addition, she likes to go to concerts, see good movies, shop in thrift stores, watch tennis, talk fashion, organize, hug people, hunt down new experiences, and research important icons in history.
Chris McElwee
Secretary of the Treasury
Role and Responsibility: The Secretary of the Treasury shall be responsible for all group expenditures and revenues. The Treasurer shall write all checks and have all checks signed by the Activities and Programs staff for the purpose of the organization. The treasurer will also maintain all group ledgers. The treasurer should also be responsible for requesting funds from the allocation board.
Major: Undecided
Christopher McElwee is sophomore from Middletown, Delaware. Chris is a Gemini, born on June 6th, 1990. He enjoys hanging out with his friends, learning something new, and enjoying everything that life brings forth to him.
Grace Bennett
Secretary of Special Projects
Role and Responsibility: The Secretary of Special Projects shall originate, plan and execute projects designed to assist in the accomplishment the StUDent Government Association’s objectives, assign tasks associated with projects to Special Projects Chairperson(s), and follow up to ensure completion. This person is additionally responsible to maintain liaison with all levels of administration, staff, outside organizations, and other Registered StUDent Organizations to coordinate successful events. Finally, the Director of Special Projects shall represent a member of SGA at every meeting of the Faculty Senate.
Major: Political Science and Criminal Justice double major with a minor in Legal Studies.
Grace Bennett is a junior from Newark, Delaware. She has been actively involved in the StUDent Government Association since her freshman year as a Special Project Chairperson. This year, as Director of Special Projects, she plans to host a variety of exciting events for the student body. In addition to SGA, Grace is also extremely dedicated to Phi Alpha Delta Pre-Law Honors Fraternity, the FYE Program, Dark Arts Dance Company, and the DelaWorld Orientation Program. In her spare time Grace enjoys spending time on the water, reading, and traveling.
Lauren Pisarczyk
Secretary of Operations
Role and Responsibility: The role of the Secretary of Operations is to complete and organize all secretarial duties of the organization. This includes but is not limited to being in charge of the StUDent Government Association list serves, completing all general e-mails, completing all reservations needed, taking all minutes, organizing all meetings, and composing the StUDent Government Association schedule as a whole. The Secretary of Operations is also in charge of working with the new appointed board at the end of the year to plan the banquet.
Major: Apparel Design
Lauren began her involvement in SGA during her freshman year as the Community Service Co-chair. This was the ideal position for her, at the time, because she loves community service events and it aided in transitioning from doing projects for a very small high school to a large college campus. From there she ran for Secretary of Operations and was elected! She is eager and excited to delve into the secretarial position. Outside of SGA, Lauren loves to paint and do gymnastics. She finds it very relaxing and rejuvenating. Aside from that she loves sticky notes, lists, Boston sports and staying busy.
Advisor and Graduate StUDent Assistant
Dr. Marilyn Prime
Advisor
Dr. Prime serves as the StUDent Government Association’s advisor. Liaising between the faculty and staff of the University of Delaware and the StUDent Government Association, her leadership is integral to the success of SGA. Dr. Prime was awarded the Frank Harris Outstanding StUDent Government Adviser Award in February of 2008, awarding her excellence in student government advisement, leadership, dedication, and student rapport.
Previously, Dr. Prime has served both as assistant dean of students for freshmen women’s residences and advisor to UD’s programming board. She earned a bachelor’s degree in music and a master’s degree in counseling and student development from Miami University of Ohio, and a doctoral degree in educational leadership from the University of Delaware. While she’s not diligently working at her desk, she enjoys jazzercising, riding her motorcycle, and collecting miscellaneous cow paraphernalia. The StUDent Government Association is both honored and privileged to once again be under her guidance.
Joseph Enste
Graduate Advisor
Serving as the graduate student advisor, Joseph Enste is receiving his Masters in Higher Education Administration. He received his BS in Human services from Stevenson University.
Joseph Enste is a first year Graduate student from Ocean Pines, Maryland and was selected to assist with advising the StUDent Government Association. Joseph was very active in undergrad, serving in many student life departs ie. Reslife, StUDent Affairs, StUDent Development. Joseph is interested in pursuing his goals to becoming a college administrator, focusing on student development and activities. His life is very eclectic so one should not be surprised to know that he is a musician, volunteer fire fighter, entrepreneur and a huge Baltimore sports fan.
